Samuel Myles — of the Woodbury firm Holston, MacDonald, Uzdavinis, Ziegler and Lodge — was appointed by a vote of 3-2, over the protests of Democratic Committeewomen Denice DiCarlo and Donna Szymborksi.

“If you recall the reorg meeting in January, Kelly was the only person who applied for that job, and she had served for years and was doing a great job and was still turned down,” said DiCarlo after the meeting. “I guess it took until now to find a suitable Republican for the job.”

At that January reorganization meeting, Damminger, who is Conroy’s uncle, criticized the Republican majority for the decision to re-bid the position.

“Now, was she passed over because she is a Democrat?” he asked. “Or, was she passed over because she’s my relative?”

Republicans on the board have defended the many personnel changes the GOP have made, arguing that they have saved the township millions of dollars.

“Last year, there was a change in the political majority, and it was refreshing for this town,” Committeeman Sam Cianfarini had stated in January. “Change is good, change is overdue, and I’m glad to be a part of that change.”

In another follow-up from the annual reorganization meeting, the committee — also in a 3-2, party-line vote — approved Phoenix Consulting as financial adviser for the rest of the year.

In January, the committee had voted to renew the firm’s contract for only three months.

Cianfarini explained the reason for the short-term renewal. The company had been slow in producing a report on the township’s $204 million debt, he said.

“I was asking for a debt analysis of the town, and they were not communicating with me,” he said. “But they came through eventually and did a beautiful job.”